Dog Central Station LLC in Tucson

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comments 5

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  Jason Colley

  :: 31 March 2018 15:37:17

  The review below mentions foundations work. When I attended Maureen's agility class (almost 5 years ago!) That was pretty clear from day one. The dog should have a basic obedience skill set. I felt like I got a lot out of the class because my dog already had those foundational skills, but there were others in the class whose dogs did not that Maureen helped them work it through. When that dog passed away, I attended Maureen's obedience class with my new puppy. She was a great teacher, and was sure to give individual tips to each person. I highly recommend that anyone with a dog join a class or book one on one training. Maureen knows dogs, and clearly loves them.

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  Robin Balon

  :: 15 March 2018 21:18:22

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  Xena Carpenter

  :: 14 February 2018 08:28:56

  Agility!

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  Kelsey Cowger

  :: 18 January 2014 17:16:48

  Really, really unhappy with the beginner agility class I took at this facility (which was taught by Maureen, the owner). I've had a fair bit of experience with dog training and have done agility before, so I was a little shocked to see how the class was run. First off, the class is advertised as a beginner class, and so I assumed that there would be a foundations element to it: I'd hoped that we'd work on some basic handling stuff, do some practice working as a team with our dogs and talk about how to run the obstacles safely. In previous classes I've taken, we didn't even begin to introduce obstacles until later in the game. In Maureen's class, we did none of that (and when I asked her, she explicitly said that we wouldn't be doing any of those things.) What she does instead is introduce 1-2 obstacles per class: she tells you what they are and loosely describes how to do them (with very little emphasis on how to do them safely, without injuring the dog). Then everyone in the (very large, 20+ student) class gets in line and you go over the obstacle one by one until the class is over. There's no chance to introduce the dog to the obstacle in a controlled way, and in some cases, you're asked to grab the dog's collar and haul them over the obstacle (this is how our dogs were introduced to the A-frame, which, by the way, was at close to full height.) Also, she doesn't object to using prongs and choke collars in class, which meant I saw several dogs basically pulled through tunnels with choke chains: Maureen didn't insist that I use these kind of collars (though she was dismissive of the agility harness I did use), but their widespread use really poisoned the atmosphere for me. I have a just-under-a-year-old small dog, and I was concerned about her physical safety, not to mention that I didn't feel like I was learning any of the important stuff about agility that I'd hoped to learn by signing up for the beginner class. I called Maureen after the second class to discuss my concerns with the class, since I thought the first day might have been a fluke (it wasn't). She was belligerent on the phone and refused to refund any of the money I'd paid for the class when I said I wasn't comfortable continuing with it. The classes are EXPENSIVE ($149 for six weeks, which is well over market rate in Tucson), and given how big it is, she's making several thousand dollars just on this class alone, so I was pretty shocked that she wouldn't even refund my money at a prorated level. That said, I'll happily take the loss if the alternative is freaking my puppy out about agility and possibly risking her physical safety. Please note that this review is just of Maureen's class--I hear other DCS instructors handle things differently--but she is the owner and does set the tone for the whole thing. Nevertheless, this whole thing left such a bad taste in my mouth that I won't be returning to DCS, regardless of who's teaching.

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  MnDi Smyth

  :: 23 February 2013 19:30:57

  My dog has learned so many activities that are fun for him and for me as well. Dogs are treated with respect and are gently encouraged to meet many different challenges. This helps them build confidence in many situations and most importantly cements the bond between the dog and person. The facility is a happy one with several rooms for various types of activities. Lots of equipment for various sports. It has great member hours and many advantages for the dog. It is also inside so is temperature controlled...cool in the summer and warm in the winter... so the dogs can get good exercise all through the different weather extremes we face in Tucson.